October 29, 2019

I recently was reminded of the immense influence that Jewish culture, thought, and literature has on interpretation of the New Testament. That reminded me of a table I created for a book review on Jesus the Jewish Theologian (4th printing Edition), by Brad H. Young (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishing Paperback, 1995) 308 Pages: ISBN 1-56563-060-2. The book review looked at some of the strengths and weaknesses of the book, and one weakness that was apparent in the version I had was that there was no a chronological index of Rabbinical influences, which could be helpful in distinguishing anachronistic applications/interpretations.

Anyway, if you have the book, here is the table I created indexing the Rabbinical resources mentioned in the book. The list of Rabbis and associated interpretations/methodologies cut a wide chronological swath, from 400 B.C. to A.D. 1950.

September 25, 2019

Long ago and far away, in Azeroth, I had a great time in the second generation MMORPG, World of Warcraft. With the recent release of World of Warcraft Classic, I've spent some time among the many projects and responsibilities of late Summer and the current Fall season to enjoy some classic computer gaming in WoW.

August 9, 2019

The Disney film The Black Hole was Disney's response to the blockbuster Star Wars. I had the read along book and cassette. The robot Maximilian was as ominous and powerful as Star War's Darth Vader. Anyway, the score by John Barry is one of the redeeming qualities of this Disney movie, and I've appreciated it for a long time.

August 7, 2019

In early stages of Phil Keaggy's career as a guitarist, he was part of the Ohio trio Glass Harp. Keaggy was an excellent guitarist then, and produced some good Rock music for the era. The rendition of Do Lord from Carnegie Hall was a legendary bootleg, and finally came out on compact disc in the Nineties.

Phil Keaggy is one of my favorite guitarists. After his time with Glass Harp, he struck out on his own. He was often collaborating with other groups and musicians, and one of my favorite collaborations is his work in the late Seventies with the group Second Chapter of Acts. This song highlights some of his brilliant guitar work from that era, and I love the drum break in the middle.

Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert landed in the middle of Clapton's drug fueled depression years. Several of his friends were concerned about him, and coaxed him out of seclusion for the the Rainbow Concert.

Below are some selections of the album that captured the live show. I fount this album when I was living in Israel, and have loved it since. In my opinion, it is probably the highlight of Clapton's guitar sound.

July 30, 2019

In approaching what the Bible says about the resurrection of believers, there are many passages that help build a biblical theology of 'believer' resurrection. In the writing my master of theology thesis, I scoured much academic literature to help build out such a biblical theology...

Place around twenty charcoals on top of the Dutch oven and between five to ten charcoals beneath. Let the cobbler bake for thirty to forty minutes, until the top of the ccobbler turns a nice golden brown; checking it about every five minutes after twenty five minutes.

April 30, 2019

Melissa and I graduated on the same day! Melissa graduated from Grand Canyon University with her Bachelors of Arts in Elementary Education, and I graduated from Western Seminary with a Masters of Theology (ThM). We decided to attend my graduation, as it was closer (shorter roadtrip) and we got to meet our new niece in Washougal. It's been a busy couple of years, and I'm hoping to have more free time and enjoy some of the things that the intense study has precluded.

April 9, 2019

I've been gardening off and on as a home-owner and vineyard planter. I've had several hand trowels, and they always seem to wear out quickly. After the last one broke, which looked quite beefy but was apparently crafted out of Chinese pot metal, I reeled in the sails and decided to take another tack. This time, I purchased a classic, the A.M Leonard Soil Knife. From the heft of the steel, you can tell that this thing is solidly built. The orange handle makes it hard to miss in the dirt as well. I'm hoping for it to last for years to come.

April 7, 2019

Having used headphones for computer gaming a fair bit, I thought I might share about my current headset, as it will be a long time before I need or want to get another one. Currently, I have a David Clark Model H-PC Headset. David Clark is famous for their aviation headphones providing all manner of headphones for airplanes and helicopters. And those can be some noisy environments. My previous headphones seemed to not last long (xBox one headeset), or not work very well (Turtle Beach Wireless). I have an small external USB audio card that I plug the headphones into that eliminates any kind of feedback loop, as it is powered over USB, and the external nature means it is outside of the computer case where cables are likely to endure induction whine. These are phenomenal. I love them.

David Clark HeadsetProduct Code:40642G-01
The Model H-PC headset for computers, tablets phones and other smart devices provides excellent audio performance and outstanding comfort. Features dual, 3.5mm plugs and volume controls on each dome for individual volume adjustment in each ear. Wired for stereo.

April 5, 2019

I've seen images of rain gutters being used for strawberry planters, particularly in more industrialized environments. And I've been wanting to do something along those lines for over a decade. However, the impetus to actually create some hanging strawberry planters came from the unintentional over-watering of our yard, and the resulting wave of slugs that infested our strawberry crop last year. So this year, to start the strawberries over, I've constructed some hanging planters.

I bought some shelf brackets and 8' of plastic gutter. after a few weeks, I bought some chain, eye bolts, washers, lock-nuts, and some all-thread. I drilled some drainage holes in gutters, and setup the brackets. I then made the chain hangars and cut the all-thread rod to the right width. Leveling out the gutters, I then put a layer of sand, and then covered the remainder with potting soil. I'm planning on doing a 1/4" soaker tube to make sure they get watered.

January 19, 2019

Recently finished the book Mile-High Missionary: A Jungle Pilot's Memoir, by Jim Manley and Design for Hackers: Reverse Engineering Beauty, by David Kadavy. And have started a few others, such as the 14 book fantasy series, The wheel of time, with book one, the Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan.
I've read most of True Community, by Jerry Bridges. I enjoyed The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, by Aidan Dodson. I was rather disappointed by After Acts: Exploring the Lives and Legends of the Apostles, by Bryan Litfin. I enjoyed both History of the Persian Empire, by A.T. Olmstead, and The Course of French History, by Pierre Goubert, though I wish it covered pre A.D. 900 era.
I have a few books to work through, Created for Worship: From Genesis to Revelation to You, by Noel Due, Oxford World Classics version of the Complete works of Francis Bacon, andSermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing by Jonathan Pennington. And am re-reading Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett.